


safe haven

by miserable_masquerade



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Azure Moon Route, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, because its like snippet of a moment idk, ferd is a blue lion and the only recruit to the blue lions in this, kind of a vignette, so everyone is At War, takes place during the timeskip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28323819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miserable_masquerade/pseuds/miserable_masquerade
Summary: After Sylvain finds a stranded, freezing Ferdinand von Aegir on the outskirts of Galatea, he decides to take him into shelter to keep both of them warm overnight.Because Faerghan winter nights are never friendly.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir & Sylvain Jose Gautier, Ferdinand von Aegir/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Kudos: 15





	safe haven

**Author's Note:**

  * For [diddlydang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diddlydang/gifts).



> christmas gift fic for one of my best friends and fellow ferdivain connoiseurs, diddlydang :D i hope you are having a great holiday and that seeing this show up by surprise brightens up your day or night even though it is a bit belated ;; 
> 
> this actually started as fanart but as i thought of the scenario and the idea of ferdivain huddling for warmth i decided to write a fic for it because my true strength lies in writing. i hope that anyone who finds this fic enjoys it, as the ferdivain tag needs more content like this
> 
> this is also my first fe3h fic in over half a year, please bear with me if i don't write anyone perfectly ;;

safe haven

miserable_masquerade

* * *

It had been a few moons since Sylvain had been sent to the Galatea outlands to provide foot and mounted reinforcements for House Galatea's pegasus knights. The empire had been making steady headway into the territory in the past year since the (former) Holy Kingdom had fallen to the coup faction, and so far, Sylvain and Ingrid had been making significant progress, actively working together for the first time in two years. Entire battalions had been forced away from the front lines and were now currently in a state of retreat, and only a little more push was needed before the territory would be rid of their presence. This was expedited further by the Faerghan winter arriving early for the year and forcefully driving away those who were not fit to fight in snowfall and freezing temperatures.

Sylvain was on a routine afternoon scouting trip when he first noticed something wrong with the surrounding forest area.

He took a whiff of the rancid smell of decomposing flesh and immediately ordered his battalion to search for any human -- living or dead. Sylvain, however, was no stranger to thick forest, and knew that his knights, mostly from the Gautier flatlands, would never be able to turn up with something worth examining or disposing. So he followed the smell himself, and soon enough, he was able to make out a path of human footprints and leftover bones and rotting meat in the snow -- someone had likely been hunting the wildlife for survival here. But who?

Sylvain slowly followed the path, until he reached a small, self-made clearing in the forest where he spotted a figure clothed in black, gathering sticks of all sizes and shoving away piles of snow with his own feet in a hurried fashion. 

He looked like he would collapse from the cold air setting around the area any minute. 

"Hey," Sylvain called out, "you really could use some help out here!" Without thinking, Sylvain walked out into the open clearing and began to help clear out more snow and push it towards where it had already been cast aside, until he turned around and realised that the figure in black had all but tripped and fell into a snowpile.

Sylvain rushed to help the man up, let him breathe laboured breaths against his arms and chest, when a telltale strand of bright orange hair fell out of his makeshift hood.

A familiar shade of orange. 

"Ferdinand von Aegir?" Sylvain held up the man by his shoulders, and watched as Ferdinand weakly raised an eyelid and mouthed Sylvain's name, before passing out in shock. 

"This won't do," Sylvain breathed, holding Ferdinand's body closer to his own. 

What was a man Sylvain had thought all but joined the imperial ranks, doing in the edge of Galatea territory? Why was he not seeking better shelter or food? Did he not know how fearsome snowy evenings were in this time of the year in Faerghus? 

He would have to take Ferdinand back to the barracks Sylvain had been living out of for the past week regardless. Sylvain never left anyone hanging in need of immediate help -- especially not someone he considered an old friend.

\---

Ferdinand came to just as Sylvain had prepared a makeshift cot near a small fire for him to rest in. He blinked his eyes twice, and Sylvain smiled a little, before leaning in toward Ferdinand's face, hoping to hint to the other man that he was not going to harm him.

The other man merely grunted and let Sylvain help him sit upright. 

After some time, Ferdinand finally spoke. "I do not know where I am," he said, before continuing, "I just wanted to try to get as far away from my home as possible."

Sylvain raised an eyebrow. The last time they had spoken to each other was back at Garreg Mach, helping fend off the imperial army together -- Sylvain thought for sure that Ferdinand had been swayed by Edelgard to join her cause, and assist her in military and domestic affairs, as his father had done. Sylvain had figured no amount of friendship Ferdinand had fostered with himself or His Highness or any of the others would give him a chance to reconsider an offer of such magnitude. Ferdinand was a man who loved to be recognised for noble servitude, after all, so...

"Why would you want to leave? You came quite a long way to get up here -- this is the edge of Galatea -- that's Ingrid's home, by the way-" Without thinking, Sylvain let his thoughts run through his mouth, trying to find a way to add to the question he had just posed to a Ferdinand still out of sorts.

Ferdinand let out a sharp laugh. "I find, Sylvain, that I have no place in the empire Her Majesty would like to create. I wanted to head straight to Faerghus right away, but I hear His Highness has sadly been executed amidst the coup.....nevertheless, I wanted to try my hand at making my way up to the other territories."

Sylvain shook his head. "If there's no proof that His Highness is dead, why should I believe -- why should we all believe he is dead? No, he's out there somewhere. Anyway, you really couldn't have picked a worse time to get up here -- even in Galatea, the blizzards are dangerous."

"I have to thank you for bringing me somewhere better than the forest I made a home in for the past three days," Ferdinand sighed.

Sylvain smiled, this time looking right in Ferdinand's eyes. "Don't mention it -- what's important is that you rest somewhere warmer than outside, especially at night."

Sylvain began tending to the fire again when Ferdinand asked, "What about your -- I assume you command a good amount of armies here?"

"They're going to be out there for a while," Sylvain said, trying to recall the exact specifics of what he had last told the last of his men to do before coming across where Ferdinand had been camping out. "And it's not a lot, just my personal battalion that I received while at the monastery and a couple of others I took here. I'm actually here on assignment."

"What for?"

"Getting the imperial army out of Galatea. In case you don't remember anything we learned in tactics together, Ingrid needs a pretty good amount of cover when facing a huge army that could have archers out there to take out pegasi." 

Ferdinand's brow furrowed. "I see. What about the others? How are they faring?"

"The other girls are in Fhirdiad. I haven't heard from them since I heard about the coup. Felix is driving off the coup faction armies along with his dad. He only agreed to let me go down here on the condition that I return to join him immediately after I finish things. Oh, and Ashe is with him too, he offered to help out House Fraldarius as soon as he managed to make his way back to Faerghus."

Sylvain stopped when he realised Ferdinand slowly appeared more solemn with each new detail he added. "What's wrong?"

"I wonder how I might be of use then," Ferdinand simply answered, before turning his head away from Sylvain's gaze.

Sylvain moved closer to Ferdinand's cot, took the sole blanket he had provided and began to wrap it around Ferdinand's body. "You can talk about this with me in the morning. I definitely don't mind you joining my ranks-"

"You say that so easily, without realising how I have quite literally abandoned my home, only to find that the people I have sought kinship with have gone about their own ways with this damn war!" Ferdinand shouted, before trying to push Sylvain's hands away from him. But Sylvain did not stop what he was doing. Instead, he sat down on the cot, close to Ferdinand, and began wrapping the blanket around both of them. 

Once he was finished, Sylvain reached out to touch Ferdinand's cheek, as Ferdinand averted his eyes in what looked like shame. 

"You say this, while forgetting that there is one more person who didn't turn their back on you and honestly never would, whether you are freezing to death or now. Look at me, Ferdinand," Sylvain said, and when Ferdinand's sorrowful eyes finally met his for more than a second, Sylvain continued, "I'm here for you right now. And if you want, I can and will always be here for you to stay with. I never say no to friends I can trust, and you are both a friend and a person I can trust with defending all of Faerghus as much as I trust the others."

Sylvain leaned in closer until he could feel Ferdinand's slow breathing on his own face. It set his own heart at ease, and before Sylvain realised, his chest had suddenly began to feel warm with compassion and newfound companionship with Ferdinand. "Right now," Sylvain repeated, "you need to rest until morning, and then we can discuss what you can do with me while I'm here."

Ferdinand slowly nodded his head. "I will try," he breathed, and with that, Sylvain let their foreheads meet.

"Resting is real important when we're both trying to fight and survive out here, you know," Sylvain chuckled as he began to settle in.

 _Faerghan winters may not be friendly, but Faerghans certainly are_ , Ferdinand thought, before he, along with Sylvain, began to drift off. 

* * *


End file.
